PennWell acquires Fire Apparatus Magazine

PennWell Corporation, a diversified global media and information company, has acquired Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment magazine and the website FireMagazine.com. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment, founded in 1996 in Tunbridge, Vermont by C. Peter and Kathryn Jorgensen under the company name Fire Apparatus, LLC, is a leading source of information about fire apparatus-related products. Published monthly for a North American readership of 35,000, Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment caters to fire chiefs, purchasing and finance committees, trustees, commissioners and other fire professionals who buy trucks, tools, turnout gear and firefighting equipment. They read Fire Apparatus and the monthly Fire Apparatus eNewsletter for news and insight to make well-informed buying decisions.

PennWell President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Biolchini said, “PennWell is pleased to expand our fire portfolio with this outstanding publication and website, which provides us a vertical extension focused on equipment and apparatus. Since 1996 Kathryn Jorgensen and her late husband Peter Jorgensen have built their company based on editorial excellence and a strong industry reputation. Fire Apparatus offers a perfect fit with PennWell as we celebrate our own centennial anniversary this year.”

Fire Apparatus, LLC President Kathryn Jorgensen will assist with the transition and expressed her confidence in PennWell as the best home for the future growth of the publication and website. “My goal in selling Fire Apparatus was to find a publisher who would continue and strengthen the magazine that my husband founded. I am very pleased that PennWell, which has an excellent reputation in the fire service and in providing information to multiple global markets, will do that,” she said.

PennWell will manage the business from its headquarters in Tulsa under Lyle Hoyt, senior vice president responsible for PennWell’s Dental and Fire Groups. Current Fire Apparatus publisher and sales manager Bob Kelly and editor-in-chief Lyn Bixby will continue in those roles under PennWell.

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